The shortlist includes two first novels from Indian author Jeet Thayil and East Midlands-based Alison Moore and two of the shortlisted novelists have previously been linked to the prize.

Hilary Mantel won the prize in 2009 with Wolf Hall, the first of her Thomas Cromwell trilogy, and was longlisted in 2005 for Beyond Black. Malaysian author Tan Twan Eng was longlisted for the prize in 2007 with his debut novel, The Gift of Rain. Four novelists, including Will Self, a radical of contemporary literature, appear on the list for the first time.

This year’s winner will be announced on Tuesday 16 October 2012, at a dinner at London’s Guildhall, where the announcement of the winner will be televised by the BBC. Each shortlisted author will receive £2,500 and a specially commissioned hand-bound edition of their book.

The winner will receive a further £50,000. The winner may also expect a significant increase in sales of their book: Julian Barnes’ The Sense of An Ending, which won the 2011 prize, has now sold over 300,000 in the UK in print copies alone.